Simrit Names Executives to President and CFO Positions

PLYMOUTH, Mich., Oct. 21, 2003 -- Simrit, the industrial products division of Freudenberg-NOK, has appointed David R. Monaco as president and Douglas J. Nye as chief financial officer (CFO). The announcements were made by Dr. Mohsen Sohi, president and chief executive officer of Freudenberg-NOK.

"Simrit's continued success requires a solid leadership team to execute its strategic direction," said Sohi. "Dave and Doug have extensive experience in the sealing sector as well as with Freudenberg-NOK, and they will be a valuable asset to the growth of the division."

In his new leadership role, Monaco will be responsible for creating Simrit's strategic direction for North and South America and driving profitable growth.

Most recently, Monaco served as vice president and general manager for Simrit's industrial and consumer sectors. In this position, he was responsible for the division's sales and marketing for all distributors and original equipment (OE) manufacturers within the industrial and consumer markets, including appliance, marine, small engine, recreational vehicle, tier automotive, heavy truck, oil and gas, medical, chemical processing, industrial pumps, gearboxes and compressors.

Before joining Freudenberg-NOK in 2000, Monaco served as vice president and general manager of the OE Business Unit for SKF USA, Inc.'s Chicago Rawhide Unit in Elgin, Ill. Previously, Monaco served the company as director of the Automotive and Truck Business Unit.

From 1984 to 1993, Monaco was employed by Wynn's-Precision, where he held a variety of executive management and sales positions for the company's operations in the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Earlier, he held a variety of sales, marketing and production and inventory planning positions with Chicago Rawhide from 1978 to 1984. He began his career in 1977 with All-Steel Equipment Co. in Aurora, Ill.

Monaco earned a bachelor's of science degree in business administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Original Equipment Suppliers Association and the Detroit Rubber Group, and serves on the board of directors for Twin Corp.

As CFO, Nye will be a member of Simrit's senior management team and will provide strategic direction and oversight to the business, and will be responsible for the financial operation of the division.

Most recently, Nye served as CFO for Freudenberg-NOK's Vibracoustic division. Since joining Freudenberg-NOK in 1992, he has held a variety of divisional financial management positions.

Prior to joining Freudenberg-NOK, Nye was plant controller at Mueller Industries in Fulton, Miss., where he was charged with site controller functions for the company's largest facility. He began working at Mueller Industries in 1988 in Port Huron, Mich., where he served as financial reporting manager.

Nye began his career in 1984 at Ernst & Whinney, where he was employed as senior auditor.

Nye earned a bachelor's of arts degree in accounting from Michigan State University and is a certified public accountant.

A market leader in the aerospace, industrial, consumer and agriculture/construction market segments, Simrit draws from more than 150 years of experience and well-known brand names including Freudenberg(R), NOK(R), Disogrin(R), Merkel(R) and International Seal(R).

The Simrit Division is based at Freudenberg-NOK's headquarters in Plymouth, Mich. Freudenberg-NOK is part of the Freudenberg and NOK Group Companies, which have total annual sales of nearly $7 billion. The global Freudenberg and NOK Group offers an extensive portfolio of precision-molded products for the aerospace, appliance, automotive, business machine, fluid power, marine, medical, off-highway equipment and recreational vehicle markets.

For more information, visit the Simrit website at www.simrit.com .